Sheet feeding mechanism



1934- W. P. SHOMAKER SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet ISnventot Filed March 28,

Gttornegs @ch 16, 1934. W, SHOMAKER I 1,976,893

SHEET FEEDING MECHANISM Filed March 28 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 3nventor (1 ttornegs Patented @ct. 16,1934

unit's My invention consists in new and useful improvements-in feed mechanism for use in con-- nectionwith thefeeding of envelopes or the like to a printing press or other mechanism, and re lates more particularly to improvements over my co-pendin'g application Serial No; 557,165, filed Aug l; 1931.

In my former invention I provided a series of vertical magazines arranged on an endless chain adapted to travel in a horizontal path over a vertically reciprocating extractor, the reciprocation of which was timed with the horizontal" movement of the chain of magazines so that as each magazine arrived adjacent a predetermined point, the extractor would move upwardly into contact with the lowermost envelope'in the respective magazines and by means of suction,- extract s'aid lowermost'envelope and deposit the away andshowing the relative location of my imsame on a pair of feed chains traveling in the same direction as the magazines, which chainswould in turn feed the extracted envelopes to a printingmechanism or the like. In order to prevent the mutilation of the envelopes while the moving magazines and envelopes were in contact with the extractor, I designed a mechanism adapted to provide an arcuate movement to the extractor. In" other words, the extractor was caused to move upwardly toward and downwardly away from the magazines and at the same time *travel in a path in substantially the direction of movementof the magazines.

t is the object of my present invention toprovide a feed mechanism which will accomplish the samefunctions and possess the same advantages of my former structure but at the same time eliminate a number of the elements which were formerly necessary to bring about these functions,"thus greatly simplifying the construction and operation of my improved mechanism.

To this end I have provided'in place of the vertically reciprocating suction extractor, a rotary sucker member or extractor mounted beneath the horizontally traveling chain of magazines and provided with a plurality of suction faces, said rotary sucker being adapted to rotate in'substantially the direction of movement-0f the magazines so as to successively bringeaoh' of' the-suction faces into contact with the lowermost envelopes-in the respective magazines and de-.

is appliedto' each suctionface asit arrives at the" point of contact with the lowermost envelopes in the'respective magazines.

A still further object of my invention is to provide in said valve mechanism a device which will completely out oii all suction upon the operation of a throw-out mechanism designed to stop the operation of the entire machine upon the failure of 'a proper feed.

With the above and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention consists in the novel features herein set forth, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings in which numerals of like character designate similar parts throughout the several views,

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation partly broken proved rotary sucker and the straight line feed chain mechanism.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view from the opposite side of the rotary sucker showing the valve mechanism.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse sectional view showing the rotary sucker in end elevation.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the valve mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4, and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the slide of the throw-off member of the valve.

In the drawings, 1 designates a series of magazines each comprising a vertically elongated box or compartment open at its top and bottom and mounted in series on endless chains 2 substantially as shown and described in my co-pending otherflexible articles is supported in each of the magazines 1.

As in my former application I preferably provide a straightline feed mechanism comprising a pair of frame plates 6 arranged in horizontal spaced relation and extending longitudinally beneath themagazinesl'. Supported transversely in the frame plates 6 andlocated at either end thereof I provide shafts 7 each carrying a pair of sprocket wheels 8 over which the respective chains of a pair of endless feed chains 9 are adapted to pass. At least one of said pairs of sprocket wheels is operatively connected to the main drive shaft 10 by means of a chain 11 whereby when the lever is in operation, the upper run of the chains 9 will continuously travel beneath the series of magazines in a direction toward the feed rollers 12 of a printing mechanism as and for the purpose hereinafter set forth.

.3 represents my improved rotary sucker which is mounted in a vertical position on a horizontal-v shaft 14 carried transversely of the path of movement of the magazines by a suitable frame 15,

said rotary suclzer being interposed between the feed chains 9 toward one end of the straight line feed mechanism. This rotary sucker 13 comprises a plurality of'suction faces 16 arranged in equally spacedrelation around the periphery of the sucker, each individual suction face being preferably concaved and provided with a raised rib 17 located substantially centrally of the concaved faces and extending transversely across the same for a portion of its width.

On either side of the rib 17 each suction face is provided with a row of radial suction ports 18, the inner ends of the ports of each row termihating in conduits in communication with common transverse exhaust ports 19. The exhaust ports 19 are arranged substantially in a circle and open on one side of the rotary sucker member 13.

The rotary sucker 13 is rotated on the shaft 14: by means of a gear 20 which engages complementary teeth in a gear 21 keyed to the shaft i l, said gear 20 in turn receiving its rotation from the main drive shaft 19 through the medium of a sprocket chain 22 which passes over a sprocket wheel mounted on the shaft 10 and a second sprocket wheel keyed to the shaft upon which the gear 20 is mounted. In order to compensate for slack in the chain 22, any suitable mechanism such as shown at 23, may be provided.

Immediately adjacent one side of the rotary sucker 13 I provide a suction plate and valve mechanism comprising a stationary body portion 24; supported on the shaft 14 and having at its upper end a substantially arcuate suction chamber 25 which lies adjacent the annular. path traveled by the transverse ports 19 in the rotary sucker l3. Suction is applied to the chamber 2-5 through a transverse port 28 in the body portion 24 through the medium of a suction hose 2'? connected to the port 28 and leading from any suitable source of suction or vacuum 28. 2 9 represents a substantially arcuate slide which conforms in shape to the chamber 25 and normally lies in a position to substantially fill the chamber,

said slide having a port 30 adapted to normally register with the port 26 and opening into an elongated recess 31 in one face of the slide 29.,

The recess 31 is adapted to lie immediately adjacent the openings of the transverse ports 19 of each suction face as the respective suction faces are brought into operative engagement with the lowermost envelopes in each magazine. and thus the suction applied through the registering ports 26 and 30 is effective through the ports 19 and 18 to withdraw an envelope from the bottom of 'each of the magazines as they progressively travel in their endless path. p

The slide 29 is operatively connected to one end of a lever 32 by means of a transverse bolt or pin 33 which extends through a slot 34 in the stationary body 24. The lever 32 is pivotally mounted on the shaft 14 and its other end is operatively connected to a link or rod 35, the latter being connected to any suitable throw-out mechanism.

Machines of this character are conventionally equipped with throw-out mechanism whereby upon the failure of an article to properly feed to the printing mechanism, the moving parts of the machine are thrown out of operation. However unless some means is provided for simultaneously shutting oif the suction, the force of inertia may cause the machine to make one or two revolutions before coming to a standstill, in which event, suction still being applied to the extractor, envelopes would be fed from the magazines. Therefore in my improved feed mechanism, the rod 35 is operated by and simultaneously with the throw-out mechanism for the machine and thus the rocking of the lever 32 on the shaft 14 causes the slide 29 to be moved longitudinally in the chamber 25 so as to shut off the communication between the port 26 and the interior of the recess 31 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l.

In the operation of my invention for use in collating and printing church contribution envelopes for example, I employ fifty-two magazines 1, each containing a stack of envelopes bearing printed matter pertaining to the particular Sunday or week in the year, the object being to suecessively withdraw one envelope from each of these stacks so that they may be dated, numbored and arranged in sets of fifty-two, all of which is conventional procedure.

The chain of magazines, as before stated, travels in an endless horizontal path in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1 and the rotary sucker 13 rotates in the direction of the arrow, the rotation of this member being so timed by the gears and sprocket chains connecting it with the main drive shaft 10, that as each magazine 1 arrives adjacent a predetermined point, one of the suction faces 16 simultaneously engages the lowermost envelope in the stack. The suction through the hose 27 and registering ports 26 and 30 being constant, as the ports 19 successively arrive adjacent the recess 31, suction is uniformly applied to the radial ports 18 in the respective suctionfaces, thus causing an envelope to be withdrawn from the bottom' of the adjacent magazine. It will be noted that the transverse ribs 17 and the concave surfaces of the suction faces cause the envelope engaged thereby to be flexed or undulated so as to positively separate the engaged envelope from-the envelope next above.

The continued rotation of the sucker member 13 deposits the extracted envelope on the top run of the endless straight line feed chains 9 which are in continuous operation and also timed with respect to the other elements of the mechanism. Upstanding lugs or other suitable means may be provided on these feed chains so that the envelopes are carried along and delivered to the feed rollers 12 of the printing mechanism substantially in the same manner as described in my copending application. In addition to these lugs,

, in my present structure, I have found it desirable to providerollers Qa'carried on the inner faces of the frame plates 6 and disposedin a horizontal row immediately above the top run of each of the feed. chains 9. These rollers 9a are preferably composed of rubber or other suitable material and their peripheries are grooved to accommodate the upstanding lugs on the chains 9, so that as each envelope is deposited on said chains, the rollers 9a engage the opposite edges thereof and retain the same on the chains. Any number of these rollers may be provided as desired.

In the event something goes wrong with the printing mechanism or an envelope fails to properly feed thereto, the entire machine is rendered inoperative by the conventional throw-out mechanism (not shown) which, as before stated, is connected to the rod 35. Consequently, simultaneously with the shutting off of the power, the lever 32 is rocked on its pivot and causes the slide 29 to shut oh the suction leading to the recess 31, and thus even though the rotary sucker might continue to rotate by the force of inertia, the feeding of envelopes is positively prevented.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a continuous feed mechanism for envelopes or other flat articles, whereby the speed and accuracy of feed is greatly increased and at the same time I have reduced the number of operating parts to a minimum. Furthermore, with my improved structure, the strain and wear heretofore obviously inherent in the more complicated mechanisms employed for this purpose, are eliminated. Consequently the cost of operation and maintenance as well as the initial cost of construction is minimized.

From the foregoing it is believed that the construction and advantages of my invention may be readily understood by those skilled in the art without further description, it being borne in mind that numerous changes may be made in the details disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Fatent is:-

1. Means for feeding envelopes to a printing machine, comprising a straight line feeding mechanism disposed in a straight line with the pri ting machine, an endless chain of magazines for envelopes, and a rotary extractor mounted on an axis transverse to the line of movement of said magazines and below the plane of the latter for withdrawing the lowermost envelope from each magazine consecutively and depositing it on the feed mechanism without axially turning the envelope.

2. Means for feeding articles to a printing mac ine, cornpr ing an endless chain of magazines f 3 separate stacks of articles, a rotary extractor mo ted on an axis transverse to the line of movement of said magazines and below the plane of the latter for withdrawing said articles one at a time from said magazines, and feeding means for positioning said articles directly in line with a printing mechanism and for feeding the same thereto without turning the articles.

3. In combination, a plurality of horizontally movable magazines, an endless conveyor feeder disposed below and movable in a plane parallel to the plane of movement of said magazines, a

rotary extractor mounted below said magazines on an axis transverse to the line of movement of the latter, the periphery of said extractor having a plurality of suction faces movable in a circular path which intercepts the path of movement of said feeder, whereby an article is withdrawn from a magazine in a direction substantially normal to the direction of movement of said magazine and delivered to said feeder, means to advance said magazines successively into operative relation with said rotary extractor, and to rotate said extractor in timed relation with the advance of said magazines, and means for moving said endless conveyor feeder.

4. Means for feeding envelopes to a printing machine, comprising a straight line feeding mechanism disposed in a straight line with the printing machine, an endless chain of magazines for envelopes, and a rotary suction extractor mounted on an axis transverse to the line of movement of said magazines and below the plane of the latter for withdrawing the lowermost envelope from each magazine consecutively and depositing it on the feeding mechanism without axially turning the envelope.

5. Means for feeding envelopes to a printing machine, comprising a straight line feeding mechanism disposed in a straight line with the printing machine, an endless chain of magazines for envelopes, a rotary suction extractor mounted on an axis transverse to the line of movement of said magazines and below the plane of the latter for withdrawing the lowermost envelope from each magazine consecutively and depositing it on the feeding mechanism without axially turning the envelope, and means for rotating said extractor in timed relation with the horizontal movement of said magazines.

6. Means for feeding envelopes to a printing machine, comprising a straight line feeding mechanism disposed in a straight line with the printing machine, an endless chain of magazines for envelopes, a rotary suction extractor mounted on an axis transverse to the line of movement of said magazines and below the plane of the latter for withdrawing the lowermost envelope from each magazine consecutively and depositing it on the feeding mechanism without axially turning the envelope, said extractor comprising a substantially cylindrical member having a series of suction heads arranged about its periphery, means for rotating said extractor in timed relation with and in substantially the direction of movement of said magazines, and means for successively applying suction to each of said suction heads as 1 tially centrally of said face, and a row of suction ports on either side of said rib.

WESLEY P. Sl-IOMAKER. 

